Compared to other sectors of
American life, public schooling hasn't changed much over the last century. That
is changing, however, with the advent of online learning. More students than
ever are logging on to complete their school work, and this trend is expected
to grow.

Online learning is attracting
students and parents for a number of reasons. Students are no longer limited to the course offerings of their local
school; they can literally search the globe to find the right course. Moreover,
online courses can be completely individualized, recognizing and responding to
the fact that not all kids learn in the same way or at the same pace.
Finally, online instruction is proving to be just as - if not more - effective
than traditional face-to-face instruction, and at a lower operating cost than
conventional brick-and-mortar schools.

Horn has been a
keynote speaker at numerous conferences including the Virtual School Symposium
and Microsoft's School of the Future World Summit. Tech&Learning magazine named him one of the 100 most
important people in the creation and advancement of the use of technology in
education. Horn earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB from Yale
University.

Susan Patrick
is the president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online
Learning, an international K-12 nonprofit association representing the
interests of practitioners, providers and students involved in online learning
worldwide.

Patrick is a
former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department
of Education. In addition, she co-chaired the federal government's Advanced
Technologies Working Group for Education and Training and served as a member of
the Secretary's Rural Education Task Force.

In 2008,
Patrick was named by eSchool News,
a leading national education technology journal, as one of the top 10 national
leaders who "have had a profound impact on educational technology." While
working on government technology policy and legislation under Arizona Gov. Jane
Dee Hull, she received the 2001 Governor's Spirit of Excellence Award.

Patrick holds a
master's degree from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School
for Communication and a bachelor's degree from the Colorado College. She has
published articles and appeared in a variety of national news media, including
CNN, Newsweek, USA Today, ABC News, CSPAN, Computerworld, Forbes, NPR, Education Week, The New York Times
and London Times.

The
luncheon begins at noon. To make reservations, please call the Mackinac Center at 989-631-0900 by 5 p.m.
on Sept. 13, 2010.

The
Purpose of the Issues & Ideas Forum

The nature of the legislative process is such that public policy
debates are often framed by specific constituencies and political pragmatism
rather than by sound principles. By offering a forum for wide-ranging
discussion, the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy
hopes to broaden the debate to include theoretical and philosophical ideals -
and how to achieve them. The best interests of Michigan residents can be served only when
legislation incorporates our best understanding of legal, economic,
psychological, moral and scientific principles.